Howden Australian Guineas (Group 1)

JAMIE Kah made it two Group 1s in two weeks after guiding the Written Tycoon colt Southport Tycoon to victory in Saturday’s Australian Guineas at Flemington.

Trained by Ciaron Maher, Southport Tycoon jumped with the leaders before easing to get on the back of the second favourite Veight. Using that horse as a launching pad, Kah eased off heels to get upsides of Veight before drawing clear to win by a length.

“Everything just worked out a dream out there today, we got into a beautiful spot, the horse I wanted to follow was Veight,” said Kah. “He was in the zone today and as soon as he got next to Veight he wanted to go away from him, it’s just been weird these past few weeks. This is really cool. The scary thing is he’s so raw still, very dumb and immature and he’s got a lot more improvement there,” added Kah.

Bought for A$300,000 at the Magic Million Gold Coast yearling sale, Southport Tycoon had been knocking on the door with a pair of Group 2 seconds by less than a half-head over the past five weeks.

“This colt has always promised so much,” said Maher. “These are your lotto tickets, colts in Group 1s. Full credit to them (Nathan Bennett syndications) and great job to our team; Jack Turnbull, Ian Gilchrist, Fulmen Park, everyone involved, all the staff, all the riders, phenomenal.”

WITH the Golden Slipper just two weeks away Storm Boy has tightened his grip on the race and is a $2.30 favourite following his facile Group 2 Skyline Stakes win at Randwick on Saturday to remain unbeaten in four outings.

Controlling the race from barrier one with James McDonald taking the seat, Storm Boy breezed through the first half of the race looking a touch fresh in his first start in seven weeks.

Slipped some rein half way down the straight the result was academic. Winning by a length and a half, the Justify colt defeated his stablemate the Snitzel colt Prost with the Dundeel colt Duvana third.

“He’s a lovely style of horse with plenty of gears and has a great high cruising speed and keep quickening off that,” said co-trainer Adrian Bott.

“This will tighten him up nicely for the Golden Slipper, but we’ve got big targets after that with the Triple Crown and I’d like to think he’s only going to be better suited getting out to 1,400 metres and a mile.”

Manaal

The fillies’ division, the Group 2 Sweet Embrace Stakes, also over 1,200 metres, was won by Manaal, by Tassort, and trained by Michael Freedman. She is rated a $26 chance for the Golden Slipper.

“I think three weeks into a Slipper for her would be ideal and if it’s a high pressure race that’s going to suit her as she’s not a jump and run type, she’s more of a sit back and sprint,” said Freedman.

TAB Verry Elleegant Stakes (Group 1)

FAVOURITES priced at $1.30 are not meant to lose, though no one passed the script to Think It Over.

The So You Think gelding, with the black hat on, brought down the red-hot favourite Fangirl, adding a third Group 1 in the Verry Elleegant Stakes, to his 14 wins and earnings of over A$8.4 million.

“Everyone thinks he’s a giant-killer, I just think he’s a giant,” said trainer Kerry Parker. “I think they’ve got to get past him and he has proved that again today. Nash (Rawiller) took some short cuts, I’m sure that helped at the end. It’s always good to get a Group 1 under your belt.

“He’s just a bottler. He doesn’t know he is an eight-year-old, he is loving it. He will just head towards the Queen Elizabeth (April 23th), that’s our main goal this prep, so far so good.” Fangirl went down by just under a length having settled near the tail and tracked wide on the bend whereas Think It Over did the opposite, forward in the run and tight round the corner. Third went to Lonhro gelding Lindermann, last year’s Rosehill Guineas winner.

THE Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable are in career best partnership form.

With a metropolitan winning strike rate of 19.3% and 57 winners from their 295 runners they are putting up a stern test to the ‘mega yard’ of Chris Waller who have already saddled up 666 runners for their 83 winners.

The only trainers to land a double at Randwick on Saturday, Waterhouse and Bott highlighted the effort with Tropical Squall’s win in the Group 1 Surround Stakes for three-year-old fillies over 1,400 metres.

Impressively, it was the Prized Icon filly’s first start since her lacklustre 10th in the Victoria Oaks the previous November. Leading into the straight with Adam Hyeronimus up, Tropical Squall was all grit as she fought hard to the line to hold off the All Too Hard filly Stefi Magnetica and Tutta La Vita by The Autumn Sun in third.

“I thought she might be vulnerable in the conditions and the 1,400 metres first-up,” said Adrian Bott. “It always holds a special spot to see the (owner) Gooree (Park) colours and by a stallion of these that they raced. It is a great story all the way through.”

TOM Sherry landed a double on one of Randwick’s feature meetings on Saturday. Saluting early on the card on the $9 chance Tashi for Peter and Paul Snowden, Sherry doubled the dose in the Group 3 Liverpool City Cup over 1,300 metres aboard Brad Widdup’s $12 chance Phearson.

“He’s not the easiest horse but he had a good day today,” said Sherry. “The more you leave him alone and leave him to his own devices, the more he responds.”

THE 2004 Newmarket Handicap winner and Champion Australian Sire of 2012/2013 Exceed and Excel has been retired from stud duty.

A former shuttle stallion and constant on the Darley roster, the 24-year-old Exceed and Excel horse, by Danehill, has produced 18 Group I winners and 215 stakes-winners worldwide, the only Australian-bred sire to break that 200 mark.

“He was one of the first reverse shuttle stallions, we shuttled him to England and Ireland,” said Darley’s Alastair Pulford.

“His influence has been outstanding in both hemispheres, and as a broodmare sire he has also been outstanding.”

Trackside NZ Derby (Group 1)

THERE is no bigger name racing in New Zealand right now than Orchestral. Unbeaten in 2024, the Savabeel filly, the $1.30 race favourite, destroyed her rivals to become just the fifth filly in the past 40 years to win Saturday’s NZ$1 million New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie.

She is trained by Roger James and Robert Wellwood out of Cambridge, with James now the trainer of three of those five Derby winning fillies of recent years as well as having broken the record for most New Zealand Derby wins at six.

Settled

Ridden by Craig Grylls, who was replaced by James McDonald in the 3YO Karaka Millions in January before regaining the ride last start in the Avondale Guineas, Orchestral was settled in the back five of the 17-horse field.

Steadily improving from the 900 metre mark, Orchestral was six-wide on the bend, spotting the leaders four-lengths on straightening. With 300 metres remaining, she rounded them up and it was just a matter of how far? Four lengths was the margin to the next best, the Roc De Cambes gelding Antrim Coast with the Savabeel gelding Ascend The Throne third.

Tempo

“My main job today was to not be unlucky,” said an elated Grylls. “They went a good tempo and I got on the three-wide train and when we all flattened out the race was over. She could have won by more.”

Orchestral’s next venture will likely be to Sydney for the Group 1 Vinery at Rosehill on March 30th, after which she has the potential to contest either the AJC Derby seven days later or the AJC Oaks, 14 days after the Vinery.

Awestruck

“I’m relieved, elated, awestruck. She just has an abundance of ability. Maybe she is the horse who can give me that Cox Plate win before I retire,” mused Roger James, who trained Silent Achiever to third in the Cox Plate behind Adelaide after winning the 2012 NZ Derby.

What chance Ascot’s director of racing Nick Smith has jotted down Orchestral for the future? Orchestral also became the 33rd individual Group 1 winner for Savabeel, as well his first New Zealand Derby winner.